1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new cantilever-type sliding gate design and more particularly to a gate which is specially designed with a one piece top rail extrusion, one piece bottom rail extrusion, special truck assemblies and pre-drilled and pre-punched components which can be shipped as a disassembled kit and can be assembled at the job site using standard tools.
2. The Prior Art
Gates have been known since ancient times. One of the problems presented by the conventional swing-type gate was the large amount of space required for the gate to swing between the open and closed positions. Cantilever-type gates solved this problem by sliding along a plane parallel with the opening to be spanned. However, the advent of cantilever gates presented a whole new set of problems and limitations to be overcome.
One problem of the cantilever gate has been the exposed wheels on which the gate travelled. The exposed wheels would freeze up in icy weather or become clogged with snow, dirt or debris which accumulated on them. The exposed wheels were also a safety hazard to users or to young children who played on the gates because human fingers could become pinched or mashed by the wheels as the gate was opened or closed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,638 addresses this problem with a support system designed for retrofitting an existing gate. One portion of the retrofit support system bolts onto the top of an existing gate and includes a covered compartment in which the supporting wheels travel. The supporting wheels are included with the other portion of the retrofit support system which bolts onto the existing support posts. However, this retrofit does not address the need for a gate originally designed to include these features.
Another problem with cantilever-type gates has been availability and cost of transportation for fully assembled gates to the installation site particularly if the gates were greater than 27 feet in length.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,374 attempted to address the transportation problem by utilizing pre-assembled double trussed panels which are transported to the installation site and bolted together on-site to form the gate. However, because of the bulk of these pre-assembled panels, they were hard to handle and when damaged, required replacement of the entire panel.
Still another problem with cantilever-type gates has been that their welded and pre-assembled construction hindered on-site repair of the gates by users. The present invention addresses this problem by providing a gate composed of individual components which are small and easily fastened together so that the user can repair the gate on site using standard tools. Repair of the present invention involves only replacement of the damaged components, not the entire panel or entire gate.